By Kris Freeman
White House Football

James Honeycutt serves as the defensive coordinator for the Blue Devils, returning to his alma mater in 1990 after graduating WHHS in 1979. He is one of two former White House players on the current full-time staff, joining Mark Lamberth.

Coach Honeycutt coaches the defensive ends and split ends, and behind the scenes works extensively with game breakdown and opponent scouting through film. He took on his current role of defensive coordinator in 1997.

He teaches strength and conditioning at WHHS, and is a graduate of Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in health and physical education, after transferring from Volunteer State. He accepted his first assistant coaching job at Westmoreland in 1985, and in five years with the Eagles participated in two playoff seasons and three bowl games with a record of 41-18.

Honeycutt is a former baseball coach for both Westmoreland and White House, and has twice been named the Sumner County Co-Coach of the Year on the diamond by The News Examiner in Gallatin. He coached both football and baseball until 1997 and now coaches only football.

He and his wife, Dawn, are residents of White House.

Q: What is the best part of being at White House?
A: The never-ending support that our community always gives is the best part, and the dedication of our players, the unselfishness of our staff and the family atmosphere that our school leaders have developed.

Q: What is your favorite part of coaching?
A: I love defense, and I like the set-up part. I like getting everything prepared, and schemed, and then hopefully that makes the calling of the defense easier. I like breaking down film, and the more you watch film, the more you learn about other teams, but you also learn some things which you can help your own team to adapt to what others are trying to do. The most gratifying part is when you have put together a game plan on Saturdays and Sundays, and then practiced it through the week, and the kids understand what we are trying to accomplish and go out and execute it the way you wanted it done.

Q: What's the toughest part of the job?
A: The toughest part is anything that doesn't deal with Xs and Os. Those things are easy, but this day and time you have to deal with a multitude of things that aren't on the field, and it's much more than it used to be. The biggest thing people do not know is the time we spend not only on the field, but off the field, and that takes away from our families. But to me, it's not a job, and it's hard for anyone to measure how much we love these kids. When I was in college, helping my dad dig fence posts and stretch chain-link fence - that was a job. This is not a job; we do it because we love these kids.

Q: What's your favorite memory coaching at White House?
A: I have two or three, and it's hard to narrow it to one. The first time I came back into the field house in 1990, after playing here and then coming back to coach, that was pretty special. I think the second one is the day of the state championship game, and seeing the looks on our kids faces with about two minutes to go, realizing their childhood dreams had just come true. And in the semifinals (1997), when Loudon missed the field goal (to send us to state), I just couldn't look. That was pretty good.